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VERNON, B.C. — Chalk up another rally for Canada's comeback curlers.
Jennifer Jones and her Winnipeg foursome stormed back from a late deficit, stealing one point in the 10th end and another in the 11th to beat Japan 9-8 in semifinal action Saturday at the Ford world women's curling championship.
The victory moves Jones into her first gold-medal game Sunday against China's Bingyu Wang (CBC, 1:30 p.m. EST). Wang is also making her first appearance in the final, and already has the benefit of a pair of victories over Canada in this tournament.
Despite their 0-2 record against the upstart Chinese, Jones's foursome will go into the game with considerable momentum after staging their most dramatic comeback of the week. Canada has trailed in nine games so far in the tournament, but has come back to win six of them.
Team Japan's second Mayo Yamaura looks over the shoulder of Team Canada's skip Jennifer Jones during semifinals action against Team Canada at the Women's World Curling Championships in Vernon, B.C. on Saturday March 29. (Jeff Bassett/The Canadian Press)
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Jones would have preferred an easier win against the plucky Japanese, but said Saturday's victory was still a satisfying one.
“It was a great win, and I'm very excited,” Jones said. “We're determined, and we never give up. I think it shows a lot of character. I'm very proud of us.
“We're just very, very proud to be Canadian right now.”
Japan will face Switzerland's Mirjam Ott in Saturday night's bronze-medal game. Ott beat Meguro 9-6 in their round-robin meeting, but Meguro bounced back with a 6-4 win over Ott in their Page playoff showdown to advance to the semis.
Meguro said her team was soundly outplayed against Canada in the latter stages of the game.
“We had a very good game,” said Meguro. “[Late in the game] the Canadian team played very well, and we couldn't finish.”
Trailing 8-5 through eight ends, Jones executed a perfect runback for a deuce in the ninth and gave Japan a scare by landing her first shot of the tenth end on the button, frozen to a Chinese rock.
Meguro blasted it into the four-foot, and Jones followed with a draw to the eight-foot. Meguro could only remove one Canadian rock with her final shot, giving Jones a steal of one and sending the game to extra time.
Jones kept the pressure on in the 11th, leaving Meguro with a difficult draw to the four-foot for the victory. The soft-spoken lefty didn't play enough ice, and her shot curled into a guard – igniting a roar from the crowd of 2,439 at the Greater Vernon Multiplex, and propelling Jones into the championship game.
Jones said she felt for Meguro.
“There were so many great shots,” Jones said. “We didn't win on a miss, I thought we won on some great shots. It's unfortunate that she missed her last one, because that's not the way that game went.
“She had to make a tough one to win.”
Meguro said her team remained upbeat following the loss.
“Our momentum isn't down,” said Meguro, who guaranteed a victory over Ott.
Japan put on a shotmaking clinic early but appeared to crack under the pressure of playing the biggest game in their country's history. Meguro, lead Kotomi Ishizaki, second Mayo Yamaura and Mari Motohashi shot 84 per cent, but couldn't match Canada's near-perfect shotmaking over the final three ends.
Jones's foursome shot 88 per cent for the game, and came up with the big finish they needed while battling both the Japanese and the shot clock. After taking too much time earlier in the game, Jones, lead Dawn Askin, second Jill Officer and third Cathy Overton-Clapham were left rushing some of their shots in the latter stages.
Jones said she was caught off-guard by the clock situation.
“I don't know what's going on, if the timers are just really aggressive with the time clock or something,” said Jones. “We've never, ever had time problems. It's not ideal, you don't want to be rushing, but you have to do what you have to do.”
The win gives Canada a chance to win its first championship as the home team since 1996, when Marilyn Bodogh captured the title in Hamilton.
Canada had been plagued by slow starts all week long, and the trend continued Saturday. Jones was forced to settle for one with the hammer in the first after Meguro made a deft hit-and-roll behind cover with her final shot. Japan countered with two in the second when Meguro drew to the button with last rock.
Jones evened the score with a draw to the four-foot for one, then made a superb double-takeout with her first shot of the fourth end. That forced Meguro to play a hit against five Canadian stones just to salvage a point.
Meguro made things difficult for Jones in the fifth, removing Canada's two shot stones with a raise takeout to lie one. Jones responded a double raise, knocking a Canadian rock onto the button for one to send the teams to the break tied 3-3.
Canada's worst end broke the game open. Jones left her shooter open with her final rock of the sixth end, and Meguro made a simple hit-and-stick for three.
Jones had a chance for three of her own in the seventh, but her final shot didn't curl enough. She settled for two, cutting Japan's lead to 6-5. Jones was off again with her last shot of the eighth end, rubbing a guard on an attempted tapback. Meguro made no mistake on a draw to the four-foot, scoring two.
Despite the loss, the tournament has to be considered a success for Meguro and her teammates. Japan will take part in just its second bronze-medal game all-time, having lost 7-6 to Denmark in the third-place game 11 years ago in Bern, Switzerland.
Jones had high praise for the Japanese.
“Japan played outstanding,” said Jones. “I thought we came out on fire, and they just matched us rock-for-rock. Whenever we had something going, the skip just made a great one.
“I'm proud of Japan, and they should be proud of themselves.”
